Equal Pay Act

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a U.S. Federal law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex.

Learning Objective

Explain the reasons and results of the Equal Pay Act of 1963

Key Points

Congress denounced sex discrimination due to its effect on wages and living standards, resource utilization, and commerce.
While women's salaries when compared to men's have seen a dramatic increase since the Equal Pay Act was implemented, the act's goal of equal pay for equal work still has not been completely achieved.
The act was signed into law on June 10, 1963 by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program.

Terms

seniority
A measure of the amount of time a person has been a member of an organization, as compared to other members, and with an eye towards awarding privileges to those who have been members longer.
merit
Something worthy of a high rating.

Example

After graduating from college with the same degrees, both Charlie and Lucy start working at the same IT company. Their resumes look so similar that it is hard to distinguish the two new hires on paper. Their jobs are basically the same, they work at the same location, and neither one of them has a supervisory role. Based on this, both Charlie and Lucy should receive equal salaries as they are doing what is considered "substantially equal work. "

Full Text

The Equal Pay Act

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States federal law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex. It was signed into law on June 10, 1963 by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program.

John F. Kennedy

Former President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law in 1963.

Reasons for the Act

In passing the bill, Congress denounces sex discrimination for the following reasons:

It depresses wages and living standards for employees necessary for their health and efficiency.
It prevents the maximum utilization of the available labor resources.
It tends to cause labor disputes, thereby burdening, affecting, and obstructing commerce.
It burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce.
It constitutes an unfair method of competition.

The law states:

"No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs, the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii)a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex. "

Results

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women's salaries vis-à-vis men's have risen dramatically since the EPA's enactment, from 62% of men's earnings in 1970 to 80% in 2004. Nonetheless, the EPA's equal pay for equal work goals have not been completely achieved, as demonstrated by the BLS data and Congressional findings within the text of the proposed Paycheck Fairness Act.

[ edit ]

Prev Concept

Fair Labor Standards Act

Civil Rights Act

Next Concept